Chapter 323 – Meeting Isshiki
"Die!"
All around Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's body, countless black rods materialized and shot forward, piercing through the air as they surged toward Madara.
At that moment, Madara couldn't properly circulate his chakra. The interference from the black rods had disrupted his chakra flow.
His eyes narrowed sharply as he stared at the incoming storm of attacks.
He pulled out a black rod of his own and used it to block, but against such an overwhelming number, Madara's body was still torn apart by several strikes. Deep wounds ripped across his torso and limbs, blood spraying into the air.
However, thanks to his Sage body, the damage began to heal almost instantly—his flesh knitting itself back together at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Madara reached up and tore the last black rod out of his body.
The moment his chakra fully returned, a massive presence erupted in front of Isshiki.
Susanoo manifested.
Not just any Susanoo—but the Perfect Susanoo.
The towering giant fixed Isshiki with a cold, merciless gaze. Its enormous hand reached to its waist, drawing a colossal blade before swinging it down in a devastating arc toward Isshiki.
Isshiki vanished in an instant.
Madara's eyes swept across the battlefield, tracking for any sign of him.
Then—
Isshiki reappeared and launched a powerful kick straight toward the core of the Susanoo.
Madara immediately tried to shift the giant's stance to defend, but the suddenness of the attack made it too slow.
The sheer force of the impact shattered the Susanoo on the spot.
The massive construct exploded into fragments of chakra, and Madara himself was forced to take the blow head-on, his body sent flying as he crashed into the ground below.
Isshiki didn't give him a moment to breathe.
More black rods formed in the air and shot toward Madara like deadly spears.
"Limbo: Switch."
In the blink of an eye, Madara vanished from Isshiki's attack range.
"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive sphere of roaring flames surged forward, racing toward Isshiki.
Isshiki raised his hand, the strange rune-like patterns on his palm glowing as he absorbed the fireball completely. The flames were swallowed whole, leaving nothing but rippling heat in the air.
Seeing that, Madara's eyes narrowed even further.
"Limbo: Border Jail."
A sense of danger washed over Isshiki. He disappeared again, slipping out of Madara's sight.
The target was gone.
"There's no spatial fluctuation… He's not using a typical space-time technique. He's just… vanishing?" Madara muttered, his gaze sharp as a blade.
Then—
"Limbo: Border Jail."
Eight invisible Limbo shadows appeared around Madara, standing like silent sentinels.
Isshiki suddenly emerged nearby and launched another barrage of black rods.
This time, the Limbo clones moved.
They intercepted the attacks, blocking and deflecting the rods before they could reach Madara.
"So they're like Shadow Clones, huh?" Ōtsutsuki Isshiki said calmly.
"As I thought," Madara replied.
Both of them jumped back at the same time, widening the distance between them.
Madara moved first.
He surged forward and threw a punch straight at Isshiki.
"Daikokuten."
Isshiki didn't even try to dodge.
But just as Madara's fist was about to connect, a sense of overwhelming danger screamed through his instincts.
In that instant, Madara vanished and swapped places with one of his Limbo shadows.
A massive black cube slammed down where he had been standing.
The impact shook the earth, sending dust and debris billowing into the sky like a storm.
Isshiki narrowed his eyes.
"So you can switch places with shadows that can't be seen by the naked eye. And when those shadows are damaged or destroyed, they return to the main body. On top of that, they can't stay out for too long either."
Compared to Kaguya, Isshiki clearly hadn't wasted the years he'd lived.
After only a few exchanges, he had already grasped most of the mechanics behind Madara's Limbo.
"Rinnegan…" Isshiki muttered, his brows furrowing in clear displeasure. "Such an irritating ability."
It was obvious. He genuinely hated the existence of the Rinnegan.
Meanwhile, Madara was analyzing Isshiki just as carefully.
"He can shrink non-living objects—and himself. He can store massive amounts of matter and summon those cubes at will. But there's a spatial fluctuation every time… It seems like he's storing them in a separate dimension."
Both of them now held a basic understanding of each other's abilities.
"Uchiha Madara," Isshiki suddenly said, his tone calm but heavy. "I'll admit it. You're strong. How about joining us? If you do, this shinobi world will belong to us."
Madara stared at him, his expression completely unchanged.
"So your goal is to destroy the shinobi world?" Madara asked coldly.
"My goal?" Isshiki replied. "Of course, it's to obtain the ultimate power. And then unify this world."
Madara let out a quiet breath.
"Maybe, in the past, I would have been interested. But there's something you need to understand. The me of the past, and the me of now… I've never had any interest in working with anyone. That kind of sentiment is nothing but a nuisance."
A sharp glint of anger flashed in Madara's eyes.
"So this is your choice," Isshiki said, looking at him with a gaze colder than ice.
"Come," Madara replied. He had no interest in wasting more words.
But Isshiki didn't move.
Instead, he looked down at his hands.
Cracks spread across his skin like shattered porcelain. His brows furrowed deeply.
He knew it.
This body of his had deteriorated even further after that fight.
"It's not time for us to fight to the end yet," Ōtsutsuki Isshiki said in a cold voice. "I'll remember you, Uchiha Madara."
Madara's face darkened.
Even if he wanted to stop him, he couldn't.
Knowing your opponent's abilities didn't mean you could actually restrain them.
"What's wrong?" Madara said calmly. "Scared little rat. Can't even dance anymore?"
Isshiki didn't respond.
He turned around and stepped into a swirling spatial vortex.
Madara knew he couldn't stop him, and all that remained in his eyes was disappointment—and disdain.
Isshiki didn't care in the slightest.
His body simply couldn't handle a prolonged battle anymore.
---
Elsewhere, a white-haired young man wandered down an empty road without any clear destination.
He suddenly stopped and looked into the distance.
"Was that Madara? And the other one… Ōtsutsuki Isshiki. If I remember right, he has a golden eye called the Kokugan, and a pair of rather unusual Byakugan."
Hatake Yusuke could feel the residual waves of battle aura rolling across the land, even from this far away.
"Well then," he said lightly, "going to take a look in person doesn't sound like a bad idea."
The moment the words left his mouth, his figure vanished from where he stood.
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After leaving the battlefield, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki arrived at a hidden base.
Below him, a massive, monstrous creature writhed in the darkness.
A Ten-Tails.
A different one.
Its single, enormous eye stared blankly ahead, radiating a terrifying presence.
Isshiki released the seal binding the Jūbi and stepped inside the chamber. He extended both hands and began absorbing its chakra.
As the energy flowed into him, the cracks on his body slowly faded.
Not long after, his condition fully recovered.
"Yo. Hello."
A voice suddenly spoke from behind him.
Isshiki's body stiffened as he turned around instantly, his eyes sharp with caution.
The Ten-Tails was his most important trump card.
If it were taken, he would be in serious trouble.
But there was a small piece of good news.
The person in front of him didn't have the Rinnegan.
So even if this person somehow managed to take the Ten-Tails, Isshiki wasn't overly worried.
"You're Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, right?" the young man said casually. "Or should I call you Jigen?"
Hatake Yusuke looked him up and down, studying him with open curiosity.
To be honest, even if the tattoos on his body were caused by his power, his overall appearance still felt way too flashy.
Especially the strange English letters near the corners of his eyes.
"You're the trendiest Ōtsutsuki I've ever seen," Yusuke added with a playful grin. "But I gotta admit, those tattoos under your eyes are pretty creative."
"Who are you?" Isshiki asked coldly.
The person in front of him knew his identity.
And more importantly—
Isshiki could feel it.
The sense of threat coming from this white-haired youth was far greater than anything he had felt from Uchiha Madara.
"Me?" Yusuke said, scratching the back of his head. "Name's Hatake Yusuke. Man, your intel is seriously outdated."
Isshiki's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hatake Yusuke…" he murmured.
"The White Shura?"
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